The Company
KATHERINE FILES is a recent graduate of the Ailey/Fordham University BFA Program in Dance and a Glorya Kaufman Foundation Dance Scholar. She was the recipient of the Prix d'Excellence de Danse Award, the highest award given in Dance at the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA). Ms. Files performed in the 5th Annual Brooklyn Dance Festival, and in 2013 & 2014, performed Alvin Ailey's Memoria during AAADT's NY City Center season. In 2014 she created The FILES (Future Inspired Leaders Exemplifying Success) Arts Project to provide free dance & arts training to the youth in her hometown of Birmingham, AL. She also teaches ballet in New York City. She is making her debut with FLDT.
CHANMEE JEONG was born in Seoul, Korea, and graduated from Deokwon Art High School in ballet. She trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia and at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in Seoul. She holds a BA and MA in Dance from Ewha Womans University. Chanmee has performed internationally in the U.S., Israel, Kenya, East Timor, and India with the Ewha Ballet Ensemble, where she focused on classic and contemporary repertoires. Since 2015 she has performed in the U.S. with Armitage Gone! Dance and Roxey Ballet (as the "Sugar Plum Fairy" in The Nutcracker, and as "Juliet" in Romeo and Juliet). This marks her debut with Felice Lesser Dance Theater.
CHIHWAN KIM won a gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in Korea. He holds a Master’s Degree in Dance Theater from Kookmin University in South Korea, and has danced with many companies, including the GwangJu City Ballet Company as a principal, where he performed leading roles in the classical repertoire, including Albrecht in “Giselle," Des Grieux in “Manon," and Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet.” Kim received his training at the GITIS Russian University of Theater Arts in Moscow with Ilia Anatolivitch Migachev. He first danced with FLDT in 2016, creating the male role in "Memory Prism" at the 2016 Booking Dance NY Festival.
Raised in Milwaukee, ACEE FRANCIS LAIRD studied at the Milwaukee Ballet School with Mireille Favarel, Rolando Yanes and Karl von Rabenau, where he was later awarded the Peter Schetter Scholarship, which allowed him to study at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City. He performed in the Milwaukee Ballet's productions of Nutcracker, Giselle and Don Quixote, in Milwaukee Ballet II, and in the Makaroff Youth Ballet. He holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. This is his first season with FLDT.
DANIELLE SHUPE started her training at the Woodbury Ballet and later at the Joffrey Ballet School where she was on full scholarship as a Trainee. While there she performed soloist roles in Suite Saint-Saens, Kettentanz, Paquita, and other works by Gerald Arpino, Margo Sappington, John Magnus, Trinette Singleton, and Robert Joffrey. She danced with New York Theatre Ballet, Exit 12, and CT Ballet. Danielle joined FLDT in 2015 for the company's 40th Anniversary Kick-Off performance, dancing roles in The Sirens' Song and Seirenes.
DONA WILEY began her serious dance training at the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance. She was twice awarded the Khalda Logan Dance Scholarship Award through the Danbury Dance Initiative program and came in second at the CT Classic Ballet Competition in 2011. She has performed with CT Ballet, Neglia Ballet Artists, IKADA Dance, James Robey Dance, Taormina Teatro Group, Ballet Inc, Neville Dance Theatre, Lydia Johnson Dance, and Staten Island Ballet. She was featured in the Off-Broadway play Tchaikovsky, and is also a co-founder of CelloPointe, a collaborative music and dance ensemble. She joined FLDT in 2015 for the company's 40th Anniversary Kick-off Celebration, performing The Sirens' Song, "Tango" from SLED, and "Reflections" from I AM A DANCER. Since then she has created roles in "Memory Prism" and "AI" from LIGHTNING.
